The high-conductance state of neocortical neurons in vivo
Alain Destexhe, Michael Rudolph and Denis Paré
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 4: 739-751, 2003.
Online copy of the paper (requires subscription to Nature Reviews
Neuroscience)
Abstract
Intracellular recordings in vivo have shown that neocortical neurons are
subjected to an intense synaptic bombardment in intact networks, and are in a
``high-conductance'' state. In vitro studies have shed light on the
complex interplay between the active properties of dendrites and how they convey
discrete synaptic inputs to the soma. Computational models have attempted to tie
these results together and predicted that high-conductance states profoundly
alter the integrative properties of cortical neurons, providing them with a
number of computational advantages. Here, we summarize results from these
different approaches, with the aim of understanding the integrative properties of
neocortical neurons in the intact brain.
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